New York -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The tragic death of President Lech Kaczynski and Poland 's political and military elite among the trees of the Katyn Forest is surreal , given that in those same woods , thousands of Polish prisoners of war were murdered by Joseph Stalin 's secret police .

The delegation was headed for the Katyn Forest near Smolensk , Russia , to honor the 22,000 Polish prisoners of war killed 70 years ago by the Soviet Union 's NKVD , forerunner of the KGB .

In 1940 , Stalin ordered the assassination of Poland 's military and political leaders in order to create a leadership vacuum so he could prop up a Communist puppet state in Warsaw .

Many of those killed in Saturday 's plane crash helped to overturn Soviet Communism in Poland in 1990 . They included Poland 's top generals , several bishops , the head of the national bank and several deputy government ministers .

During the five decades of Soviet occupation of Poland in the Cold War , the Russians covered up the Katyn Massacre , claiming that Nazi Germany had murdered these officers . But forensic evidence found in mass graves proved that the Polish prisoners were taken into the woods , with their hands tied behind their backs , and one by one , they were shot dead in the back of the head by the Russians . The mass graves were discovered by German soldiers in 1943 when they saw pawprints of wolves that had been digging up the bones .

In 1990 , after the collapse of the Soviet Union , the truth began to slowly emerge with revelations by Russian leaders Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin .

It 's no secret that Moscow was not excited about Kaczynski 's visit to Katyn , because he demanded to know the full truth about the murders . For the Kremlin , the official commemoration took place last Wednesday when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Kaczynski 's political rival , Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk , took part in ceremonies at the same gravesite where Kaczynski was heading .

But Kaczynski 's delegation included family members of murdered officers who wanted the Russian government to open all of the remaining archives concerning the massacre .

For decades , the cries of Polish families who want to know what happened to their loved ones have fallen on deaf ears . Kaczynski was their voice .

Many will no doubt compare this crash to the 1943 death of Polish Prime Minister Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski , who died mysteriously when his plane crashed into the sea near Gibraltar after he asked the International Red Cross to investigate the Katyn Massacre . At the time , the American and British governments were not willing to address the massacre because they were trying to help the Soviet Union fight Nazi Germany on the Eastern front .

Let us hope the flight data recordings from Kaczynski 's downed plane will provide enough evidence to dissuade conspiracy theorists .

Ironically , because of Kaczynski 's death , more people have already heard about the Katyn Massacre than would have heard about it had he simply placed a wreath at the gravesite . For those Polish officers in the mass graves at Katyn , Lech Kaczynski 's death was not in vain .

Many Russian government officials appeared on Polish television after the disaster expressing sincere regrets over the death of Kaczynski and his delegation . Putin has flown to Smolensk , where he said that he would oversee the investigation into the crash . Hopefully , these are signs that this tragedy will somehow lead to the full truth about Katyn and reconciliation between Poland and Russia .

For decades , Katyn has been the symbol of the worst in Polish-Russian relations . That is why several months ago , the Kosciuszko Foundation began working on a conference about the Katyn Massacre to be held at the Library of Congress on May 5 . The goal is to provide a forum for political leaders , scholars , authors and human rights advocates from Poland , Russia and the United States to discuss new details on the massacre , and the possibility of finding a path toward reconciliation between Poland and Russia .

There will also be a display of rare Katyn photographs and documents on loan from The Council to Protect the Memory of Struggle and Martyrdom . Andrzej Przewoznik , secretary-general of the Council , was to be one of the speakers . He died in Saturday 's crash . Now , this conference and exhibit will be a tribute to him , as well as to the other Polish leaders killed in Katyn during the 1940s , and in 2010 .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Alex Storozynski .

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Plane crash killed many Polish leaders headed to commemorate Katyn Massacre

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Alex Storozynski says the massacre by Soviets in 1940 remains a source of friction

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Polish president , killed in crash , was voice of those who wanted to know about the massacre

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Storozynski hopes for reconciliation for Russians and Poles still seeking full truth